Background
Garrett was born on August 26, 1875 in Ore Springs, Tennessee, the son of Noah James Garrett, a farmer, and Virginia Baughman.
Garrett was born on August 26, 1875 in Ore Springs, Tennessee, the son of Noah James Garrett, a farmer, and Virginia Baughman.
Garrett attended rural public schools, Clinton Academy, Clinton, Tennessee, and Bethel College, McKenzie, Tennessee, from which he graduated with the A. B. in 1897. While a student he learned the printer's trade, and became editor of the Weakley County Democrat and the McKenzie Herald.
Between 1897 and 1899 Garrett served as principal of Como (Tennessee) High School, taught in Milan, Tennessee, and read law to prepare for the Tennessee state bar examination. For the next five years he practiced law in Dresden, Tennessee, and was master in chancery. In 1905 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives for the Ninth Congressional District of Tennessee on the Democratic ticket, and held that seat for the next twenty-four years. While serving on the Rules, Insular Affairs, and several select committees, Garrett voiced opinions on many governmental concerns. His crusade for Philippine independence was an issue he kept before the public. Fiscal conservatism appealed to him, and he worked to obtain sound budgets. He voted the party line on such national issues as woman suffrage, the World War I bonus, child labor legislation, the Fordney-McCumber tariff of 1922, and antilynching laws, as well as military appropriations. A stalwart defender of Woodrow Wilson's philosophy, he favored United States involvement in the League of Nations. After World War I, Garrett spoke throughout the nation, promoting the idea that the Democratic party was the only party that could provide the leadership needed in the future. In 1921 Garrett was appointed as a federal judge for western Tennessee, but the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee refused to grant approval. As the acting House minority leader in 1921, he spoke vigorously and often against the Republican voting record. During the administrations of Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, Garrett continued his attacks in Congress and at Democratic party rallies, emphasizing the need for national rather than sectional growth of the Democratic party. His speeches, although at times lengthy and referring to matters other than politics, were scathing commentaries on Republican failures to solve national problems. He strongly believed, however, that there should be a halt in the mad rush toward "centralization of governmental functions. " A states' righter, Garrett felt that federal control of state obligations would lead to excessive dependence on Washington's ability to provide equally for all local needs. During the 1926 Congressional campaign, in which he expressed opposition to Gilbert N. Haugen's bill for farm relief, Garrett's usually safe majority was cut to several hundred votes. Two years later he challenged the incumbent senator, Kenneth McKellar, a popular vote-getter, especially with labor. Garrett was defeated in the primaries, and his supporters claimed that party machine activity and voting frauds in Memphis and in Shelby County on behalf of his opponent were the deciding factors in the contest. Shortly before he was to leave office in 1929, President Coolidge offered Garrett the post of associate judge on the Federal Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. He was formally appointed on March 5, 1929, and served in this capacity for the next twenty-six years. When he was not occupied with judicial duties, he lectured on such nonpartisan issues as fiscal responsibility, the importance of democracy, and patriotism. On December 9, 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt elevated Garrett to presiding judge, a post he retained until his retirement in 1955. He died in Washington, D. C. on May 26, 1956. He is interred at the Sunset Cemetery in Dresden, Tennessee.
Garrett married Elizabeth Harris Burns on November 27, 1901; they had two children.